The Lambeth Conference of 1988 came at a critical time for the coherence and unity of the Anglican Communion as a whole. The bishops found themselves facing the imminent possibility of one of the Provinces ordaining a woman to the episcopate, and had to address the challenge of how to maintain the highest degree of communion with one another and how to strengthen their commitment to one another despite differences in principle and practice

This report was presented to ACC-10 Meeting in Panama, October 1996. In response the ACC noted with approval the Agros Report.

Since Panama the co-chairs of the dialogues and the ecumenical officers of the Provinces have responded to the request for further developments internationally and locally. In August 1997, a small editorial group met at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, USA to include these responses and edit this Report.

Christian engagement with people of other faiths goes back to the very origins of Christianity. The Christian faith was born in a plural environment and had to relate not only to Judaism and to "classical" Graeco-Roman religion but also to the various "mystery" cults of the Mediterranean world as well as state religions such as Zoroastrianism in the Persian Empire